America Reframed

Through the lens of independent films, this series tells the many stories of a transforming American culture and its broad diversity. It takes an unfiltered look at relevant domestic topics (healthcare, immigration, the workplace, and politics) with personal storytelling tied to programming social themes. The series showcases films that will give viewers a "snapshot" of the transforming American life - the guts, the glory, the grit of a new and changing America. From contemporary life on Native American reservations to stories of recovery on the Gulf, from hardships and revitalization in towns big and small, to stories from city streets across the country, these independent, personal and opinionated films document the times in which we live.

Upcoming Broadcasts:

Kivalina (#423)
Duration: 1:26:46
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

At the edge of the world, the Inupiaq people are fighting for survival. Kivalina documents life on this namesake island that teeters on the edge of the North Pacific. Once a nomadic people, the Inupiaq were relocated to Kivalina, Alaska, by the US government more than a century ago. Today, the community struggles to maintain itself in the face of forces largely beyond its control. Climate change threatens to drown the village under rising ocean levels. The neglect of a government thousands of miles away delays repairs to the crumbling sea wall that routinely fails to protect the island from the flooding caused by ever more frequent storms. And, as the melting ice opens up the north to resource extraction and tanker traffic, an oil spill would wipe out the whales and with it the community. The everyday lives of the Inupiaq people carry on under the weight of these impending disasters. Director Gina Abatemarco and her crew document traditional hunting and food preparation, coexisting with the frustrations of teenage boredom and bureaucratic intransigence. Kivalina shows the consequences of colonialism, economic exploitation, and bureaucratic neglect for this community while foregrounding the voices of the people themselves. Intimate and unflinching, the film shows the cultural as well as the environmental consequences of climate change.

Upcoming Broadcasts:

A Will for the Woods (#308)
Duration: 1:03:26
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

Musician, folk dancer, and psychiatrist Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial, determined that his final resting place will benefit the earth. He has discovered a movement that uses burial to conserve and restore natural areas, forgoing toxic, wasteful funeral practices engineered to preserve the body at the ecosystem's expense. Clark, a spirited and charismatic advocate, sets out to save a tract of forest with the help of green burial pioneers and a compassionate local cemeterian.

Yellow Fever (#313)
Duration: 53:39
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

Yellow Fever follows young Navajo veteran, Tina Garnanez on her journey to investigate the history of the Navajo Uranium Boom, its lasting impacts in her area and the potential new mining in her region. She begins as a curious family member and becomes an advocate, lobbyist, activist and vocal proponent for transparency and environmental justice.

Care (#510)
Duration: 56:46
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

90% of Americans want to age at home, but many of them have to rely on paid care workers because their families can't provide the support they need. Told through the stories of both care workers and their clients, CARE illuminates the many challenges and deep attachments that can be formed between the elderly and the home care workers they depend on - and exposes the cracks in a system that is poorly serving both.

Night School (#511)
Duration: 1:26:46
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

Every year, over a million students drop out of high school. They may complete their graduate equivalency degrees, but then they discover they're still struggling to get good jobs. For some in Indianapolis, there's another option: a night school program that will get them their full high school diploma - if they can complete a tough curriculum that includes algebra and biology. NIGHT SCHOOL is an intimate look at a year in the lives of three students: a single father trying to make abetter life for his young daughter, an older woman looking to complete the schooling she abandoned almost 40 years before, and a young woman who needs her diploma to enroll in nursing school.

Hanna Ranch (#316)
Duration: 1:29:50
STEREO (Secondary audio: none)

A portrait of cattleman Kirk Hanna and his personal struggle to protect a once prominent way of life in Colorado. Born into a life on the family ranch, Hanna became a leader in the environmental ranching movement that set out to protect the West from the relentless encroachment of development and misuse.

Suicide - one of the leading causes of death for Alaska Natives. Almost every family has lost brothers, sisters, parents, and children to it. WE BREATHE AGAIN introduces four Alaska Natives who are trying to break free from histories of trauma and suicide , creating a new, more positive trail for their communities.

TV Technical Issues

TV

Next week, Sutro Tower will be switching most stations to their auxiliary antennas. KQED TV will be at half power on the lower
auxiliary antenna, this will affect some of our Over The Air viewers. Maintenance is scheduled on August 21-25 from 9am through
4pm daily. Thank you for your patience!

(DT9-1 thru 9-3, and DT54-1 thru 54-5) KQED experienced a major technical issue with our Virtual ID info in our signals for
DT9 and DT54, beginning apx 4pm Thursday 6/22, which was resolved apx 11am Friday 6/23. As background, almost every TV station
in the Bay Area now transmits on a frequency which is different […]

(DT25.1 through 25.3) Recent storms have taken out dozens of trees on Fremont Peak, which in turn have taken down power lines
leading to the transmission tower located on the peak. It has been running on generators for several days, and regular trips
are scheduled to re-fuel those generators with gas. However, the truck has […]